In 1993 Dr. Randy Lake, Lisa Curran and Susan Jones joined a dental team from Seattle Christian Schools to do “whatever was needed” for a week. None of them knew what to expect or how that first trip would affect the lives of many people in years to come. Randy, a dentist in private practice in Renton, WA had been on solo mission trips to Guatemala and Colombia in the past. This was his first experience working with others on a mission team. Lisa Curran, a dental hygienist, had been practicing for several years, but she had never been on a mission team. What the three of them found was not what they had expected.

On arrival in Villas del Sol, a village outside of Mazatlan, they were shown the front porch of a tiny house. The patio and porch became the dental clinic. Using a kitchen table as her exam area, Lisa gave dozens of anesthetic injections to patients waiting for Randy’s care. Once they were “numbed up” those same patients moved onto a folding dental chair to receive their care from Randy’s rented portable dental unit. Work was slow and difficult. Patients lined up outside the picket fence of Anita’s front yard to watch the dental clinic and receive instructions in how to brush and floss their teeth. Susan learned to clean instruments, but was quickly put in charge of a medical clinic run from an old school bus that was the team’s transportation for several years. From that week long experience, Mano con Mano Health Reach was born. Subsequent trips in partnership with Seattle Christian Schools, and then a series of trips led by Mano con Mano, began to build the foundation of the work we have today.

Lisa writes, “That first year we had one hardworking dentist and a mishmash of borrowed and donated items. We were able to serve some of those who came to us but it was a small number of those with the greatest need. The last five years Skyway Church of God has made this Dental Outreach part of their Christ Birthday Offering. Their gifts of funds have been directed to buy supplies and equipment to better serve Gods work in the dental ministry.

This April 2002 we will pack up a functioning dental office. We have three operating dental units, two new portable dental chairs, four handmade dental chairs and all the tools and supplies necessary to do silver fillings, limited tooth colored fillings and extractions. We will bring two dentists with us and hope to work with several Mexican dentists. Last October we were blessed to have six dentists working at one time helping so many in need!

We hope to serve 200 dental patients with the love and care of Christ this April. Each day will bring a new challenge as we serve to reduce pain of infected and hurting teeth and do necessary fillings on children and adults to save their teeth from extraction. Dental care is often neglected in Mexico, not only because of lack of education but simply because of the stark reality of poverty. A day laborer may make only ten dollars a day, so preventative dentistry is not an option. Many people wait until a tooth hurts so badly that they cannot put it off and go to get it pulled. Many times doing a filling is not an option due to the cost. It may cost a week’s wage to have a tooth fixed and filled but only a day’s wage to have it extracted.

Imagine going to a strange makeshift office, seeing strangers who don't speak your language and allowing that stranger stick a needle in your mouth and pull out your tooth! If you can imagine doing that you will be as brave as the four year old little girl I was privileged to treat in October. She had her four top front teeth decayed to the gum line and need to have them extracted to prevent further abscess. She trusted me to get her numb (a big needle) and didn't flinch a bit while they were pulled. Her mother was very grateful to provide the best care she could for her daughter.

Randy and Susan became founding board members for Mano con Mano, and Lisa joined later. This year, after participating in ten mission trips to Mexico, Lisa is leading a team of 25 volunteers back to Mazatlan where the ministry began. Dr. Randy Lake and his daughter Myra will be on this team with Lisa and Susan. Please pray for the team as they work with the Iglesia Cristiana Congregacional from April 5-13 in Mazatlan. They hope to care for 1200 people. Many of the patients are policemen and their families. Pastor Daniel Celis hopes that this clinic will open the doors for a ministry with the police department, which will have far reaching benefits for the city. Sometimes we have no idea what will happen to us when we take one step in a new direction. From a villager’s front porch to downtown Mazatlan, dentistry is a way to open doors and open hearts.